Robot system and method for copper concentrate injector cleaning in the flash furnace

ABSTRACT

At present, the flash furnace due to an increase in fusion forms accretions in the burner which causes that the “air umbrella” does not develop and in order to clean it manually the load must be lowered for safety reasons. One of the major disadvantages of all the tasks associated to the cleaning process is the exposure of the personnel to harsh environmental conditions. This in the medium and long term could generate serious occupational diseases to the operators in charge of carrying out such activity. Due to the above, a robot system and method have been developed for the automated cleaning of the burner thus minimizing the decrease of the load. The robotic system is composed mainly of an anthropomorphous robotic manipulator of at least 5 degrees of freedom, and a gripping mechanism which allows to take, manipulate and release several tools from a tool holder to carry out the cleaning process of the smelting furnace.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/734,969 filed 2005 Nov. 10 by the present inventor

FEDERAL SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to the use of robotic technology in mining industry, specifically in cleaning tasks in smelters.

BACKGROUND—PRIOR ART

The Smelting furnaces main function is to smelt metals and/or concentrates in order to purify and extract the ore. These furnaces use the heat generated from the high temperature oxidation reactions resulting in 2 stages: one stage with the valuable metal of interest which is called matte, and the other stage with worthless metal called slag. In general terms, the smelting furnaces operate on a continuous basis, while the matter and the slag are discharged to bins through batch processes by opening and closing the corresponding bleed. At present, the flash furnace due to an increase in fusion forms accretions in the burner which implies the air umbrella is not developed and to clean it manually the load should decrease for safety reason.

One of the major disadvantages of the tasks associated to the cleaning process is the exposure of the personnel to harsh environmental conditions. In the medium and long term this could generate serious occupational diseases to the operators involved in carrying out this activity.

Particularly the cleaning process has disadvantages from the point of view of safety as a result of the exposure of operators to spatters and molten metal projections. On the other hand, a decrease in the furnace processing capacity could be generated which means a decrease in the flash furnace production.

SUMMARY

A robot system and method have been developed for the automated cleaning of a concentrate injector in the flash furnace.

DRAWINGS—FIGURES

FIG. 1. General view of a robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace

FIG. 2. General view of a robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace

DRAWINGS—REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Robotic manipulator

2. Gripping mechanism

3. Tools

4. Tool holder

5. Smelting furnace concentrate injector

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to a new robot system as well as a robotic method for cleaning processes of the concentrate injector in flash furnaces, which are carried out automatically through an anthropomorphous robotic arm of at least 5 degrees of freedom, provided with a gripping mechanism, so as the robotic system is designed to manipulate several tools and allows to carry out the cleaning processes of the injectors.

With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the robot system is composed mainly of one anthropomorphous robotic manipulator (1) of at least 5 degrees of freedom, provided with a communication, acquisition and control system, and a gripping mechanism (2) which allows, in a sequential and programmed way, to take, manipulate, and release several tools (3) from a tool holder (4) to carry out the cleaning of the smelting furnace concentrate injector (5). 

1. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace comprising an anthropomorphous robotic arm of at least 5 degrees of freedom, one control, communication and programming unit, one gripper adapter, one pneumatic gripper, its fingers, one pneumatic gripper driving system, one electric supply system and a fixed and mobile tool holder wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator of at least 5 degrees of freedom is provided with a gripping mechanism which allows in a sequential and programmed way to take, manipulate and release several tools or devices which are deposited in a fixed and/or mobile tool holder, located near the robotic manipulator, which are used to carry out the cleaning process of the concentrate injectors of smelting furnaces.
 2. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator could communicate by itself or through a PLC interface with the control system.
 3. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has the capacity to obtain and interpret the information from installed analogue and/or digital sensors.
 4. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has the capacity to generate analogue and/or digital signals to control analogue and/or digital input devices.
 5. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the robotic manipulator has a pneumatic, electric and/or hydraulic gripping mechanism to take, manipulate and release the several tools to be used according to the task to be performed.
 6. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the robotic manipulator is mounted on a fixed support which allows to move to approach and/or move away from the smelting furnace according to the task to be performed.
 7. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has an electrical and/or hydraulic system driven by three-stage induction motors, with vectorial and/or scalar control.
 8. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein it has the capacity to move and manipulate several tools in different paths within the work volume of the robotic manipulator.
 9. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein it could be integrated to the cleaning process of injectors in any type of smelting furnace whether in smelting and/or conversion processes of copper or other metals (iron, zinc, nickel, silver, gold, tin, lead, etc.)
 10. A robot system for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace according to claim 1, wherein the system may operate automatically, or semi-automatically, and also allows solutions scalability
 11. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10 wherein the anthropomorphous robotic arm of at least 5 degrees of freedom is provided with a pneumatic gripping mechanism which allows in a sequential and programmed way to take, manipulate and release several tools or devices which are deposited in a fixed and/or mobile tool holder, located near the robotic manipulator, which are used to carry out the cleaning process of the concentrate injectors of smelting furnaces.
 12. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the robotic manipulator has a pneumatic, electric and/or hydraulic gripping mechanism to take, manipulate and release the several tools to be used according to the task to be performed.
 13. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator could communicate by itself or through a PLC interface with the control system.
 14. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has the capacity to obtain and interpret the information from installed analogue and/or digital sensors.
 15. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has the capacity to generate analogue and/or digital signals to control the analogue and/or digital inputs devices.
 16. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the robotic manipulator is mounted on a fixed support which allows to move to approach and/or move away from the smelting furnace according to the task to be performed.
 17. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the anthropomorphous robotic manipulator has an electrical and/or hydraulic system driven by three-stage induction motors, with vectorial and/or scalar control.
 18. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein it has the capacity to move and manipulate several tools in different paths within the work volume of the robotic manipulator.
 19. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein it could be integrated to the cleaning process of injectors in any type of smelting furnace whether in smelting and/or conversion processes of copper or other metals (iron, zinc, nickel, silver, gold, tin, lead, etc.)
 20. A robotic method for the cleaning of the concentrate injector in the flash furnace using the robot System of claim 1 to 10, wherein the system may operate automatically or semi-automatically, and also allows solution scalability. 